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Friday, December 16, 2016

Two poems by the kind and gentle Daisaku Ikeda

Two poems by the kind and gentle SGi mentor

Our Brilliant May 3!Those others [traitors of the SGI]Boast the rampant bad taste of the vulgar;They brag of their wealth and prosperity,Blind to the factThat they are the laughingstock of all.They do not knowThat they emit a stenchMore foulThan stinkweed.And so,They lack that most important eyeFor discerning the essenceOf a life of supreme good,Of the most noble deeds,Of excellence of character,Of real truth and justice.Those others!Oblivious to the new age,They constantly repeat old sins,Over and over!For us, however,An age of peace and tranquillityIs always waiting.We always wearOur jeweled crownOf happiness.Here,Absolute, eternal happiness,True, unsurpassed happiness,Awaits us.No matter how fierceThe storms of sorrow that may beset us,We will never succumb.No matter how others may inflictSavage wounds on our hearts,Their efforts will only backfireAnd rage as storms of mental tormentIn their own minds.And, eventually,These individuals,Who are obsessed with title and status,Power and fortune,Will be torturedBy endless agony.There is no forceThat can alter our truth and justice.Those who have tormented usWill only suffer retributionInflicted by their own hand.A cursed blood flows through the veinsOf such odious individualsAnd they will end their daysSuffering for the offensesOf their utterly corrupt beingsAnd cursing their own evil lives.As for us,We need no crown of authority;We possess no dark ambitions;We commit no offensesThat will give us cause for regret.We will never becomeThe kind of people who pretend to goodnessBut suffer the torments of hell inside.No matter how many fabricationsPeople broadcast throughout society,We fear nothing.Such pitiful schemesAnd the cold winds of maliceAre no more than the shadows of phantomsTo those who possess a state of lifeAs indomitable as a majestic palace,To those who are strong and true.We merely laughAt the black-hearted,Quivering,Pitiful wretchesWho resemble petty thieves.Our citadel of truth and justiceRemains completely unshakenBy the harsh blast of arctic winds,By the storms of cruelty,By the wild cacophony.Oh May 3!A dayWhen ambassadors of peace,Emissaries of happiness,Who have appeared all over the world,Set forth with fresh energy and joy!Oh world citadel of kosen-rufu!Standing firm and unmovingAgainst every underhandedAnd vile attack --At times, the persecution of authority,At times, the treachery of priests,At times, the violence of words!We have laid the foundationFor global kosen-rufu --Our organization is solid,Our bases, sound,Our network, strong.There is no doubtThat the next thousand, ten thousand yearsWill be our age.My fellow members,Comrades of shared mission,Never be defeated!We must win without fail.To do so,Advance, run --Forward, ever forward!The wiseAre always learning.Let us,You and I,Striving each dayAs people of outstanding wisdom,Calmly meet the challengesOf every new ageAnd win.As we achieveVictories that create valueAnd bring spiritual fulfillment --The greatest desire of all human beings --We will adorn our livesAs victors who have won honestly in society.All of usMust eventually experience death,Which evokes feelings of darkness and sadness.A great philosopherOnce described life as but a reprieveBefore that inevitable destination.

There have been foolish peopleWho took lightlyThe goodwillAnd the pure, profound realm of faithOf the SGI --A realm of pure-hearted membersDedicated to truth and justice --And who caused trouble for others,Acting in such a wayAs to disrupt the harmony of believers.We absolutely refuseTo compromise with evil.We sever our ties with --And, moreover, fight rigorously against --Those who share the life-stateOf the treacherous and destructive Devadatta.No matter what they may have achieved in the past,Buddhism is concerned with the present and the future.We cannot forgive those who,While holding the highest leadership positions --Just like the five senior priestsWho betrayed the Daishonin --Behaved like degenerate madmen.How immense must beThe Daishonin's anger,And that of his successor,Second high priest Nikko Shonin!The anger of the SGI,Which has inherited the Buddha's intent and decree,Is no less.We cannot forgive evilIf we are to protect the good!We must drive out the corruptIf we are to protect the SGI!If we are to protect truth and justice!How pitifulAre thesePrisoners of delusion,Without principle,Without faith,With vindictive eyes,Their basest animal instincts exposed,Howling wildly at the good and just!Cringing before truth and justice,The arrogant authoritiesTry to flee, to escape its hands.They, with their many celebrated titles,Combining their personal interest and pleasure,Unknowingly tread on a path that leadsInto a scorching, inhospitable desert.Oh how futileAre all their fine-sounding words!We, in contrast, are livingLives of integrity.We have chosen the path leading to truth.AndWithout allowing a single person to fall victimTo the insidious schemes of the jealous and deceitful,We will continue to advanceWith invincible passion and energy.May the lofty songOf our chorus of peaceTake us from the discordOf a world of dark envy,To a world that rejects conflict and war!Above all,How joyous it is to forgeA world of unity that extolsThe duet of justice and conviction!Following the path of the wise,We gaze down,From our lofty palace,On the crazedWorld of barbaric strife.The foolish remain eternallyIgnorant of virtue,Choosing intentionally the path of evilAnd stupidly pursuing itUntil they arriveAt a place that is human hell.The Victorious Future of Mentor and Disciple"

I can seeThose who are like demonsMilling around what,Unbeknownst to them,Is only an execution block.They trampleThe noble spiritOf the DaishoninAnd have becomePitiful robbers of the Law.Like a rapacious swarm of locusts,Nikken and his croniesHave exploited and persecutedAnd even plotted to destroyThe Soka Gakkai,An organization of the highest goodThat has made unprecedented contributionsTo spreading the LawAnd worked so hardTo support and protect the priesthood.Their evil deedsWill go down forever in historyAnd they will be severely judgedAccording to the law of cause and effect.This I believeTo be the unwavering positionOf the Daishonin.It will be just as he statesIn the writing "On Persecutions Befalling the Sage":They "seem to be free from punishment at first,But eventually they are all doomed to fall"(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 997).The plots and schemes of High Priest Nikken Abe and his cohorts,Spinning a web of the most base liesAnd vicious slander,Were designed to bring us down.YetWe shone on brightlyLike the morning sun!We rose boldly to the challenge,And began our battle!The Daishonin, too,Was slandered as an immoral priest,And his struggles amid persecutionWere beyond description.Our first president Tsunesaburo MakiguchiUsed to strictly remind usThat in comparisonThe persecution we encounterIs truly small and trivial.With silent forbearance,The firm resolve demonstrated by the BuddhaEngraved in our hearts,We waged an arduous struggleTo overcomeEvery imaginableHaughty and arrogant utterance.We will not be defeated.We are fed upWith the clamoring and abusive foolishnessOf these spiritual paupers.In fact, our mighty, passionate spiritOnly burns all the brighter.They who areAt times frenzied,At times coldly silent,At times filled with excuses,Will eventually depart this world,Gasping and trembling in fear.Backsliders in faith!Are you satisfiedTo lead a lifeTrapped in a mazeOf hellish depths?Slanderers of the Law!Having corrupted the Daishonin's teachingsAnd veered from the eternal truth,Are you preparedTo drift along forever in a state of lifeOf agonized defeat?Traitors!Having turned your backsOn the Daishonin's golden words,Are you readyTo be burned in the firesOf the hell of incessant suffering?To be imprisoned in a cavernIn the hell of extreme cold?To be shut off in the darknessOf misery and strife,Forever deprived of the sun's light?